Lee Seung-hui
Lee Seung-hui was a former royal physician who ran the Jiyulheon clinic near Dongnae. He retired from royal service three years prior to the start of the series. When the King of Joseon fell severely ill, Cho Hak-ju summoned Physician Lee to treat him. When the King died, Lord Cho ordered Lee to use the resurrection plant to revive him, which inadvertently caused the outbreak. Plot Episode 1 In Hanyang, Physician Lee enters the royal palace under the cover of darkness to tend to the King. He warns his young assistant Dan-i to not look into the King's bedchamber. But when Dan-i kneels down to give the King a bowl of medicine, he is attacked and dragged into the bed while Lee looks on in horror. The Crown Prince learns of Physician Lee's visit after having Mu-yeong steal the royal physician's journal. They set off to find Physician Lee to learn the truth about what happened to the King. Physician Lee returns to his clinic outside Dongnae with Dan-i's body, and instructs the staff to prepare for a funeral. Seo-bi is shocked when she learns that Dan-i died on the trip, and is disturbed upon seeing the bite marks on his corpse. However, Physician Lee refuses to tell her what happened and locks himself in his room to research the effects of the resurrection plant. Episode 2 Cho Hak-ju recalls a flashback, where Physician Lee examines the King's body and confirms his death. Lord Cho insists that the the King must survive another month, until the Queen gives birth. He orders the physician to repeat what he did three years ago, and use the resurrection plant to bring the King back to life. He warns him not to reveal that the King had passed away. At Jiyulheon in the present, Cho Beom-il's guards investigate noises coming from a cabinet, only to be attacked by Physician Lee, who had been locked inside after becoming infected. Beom-il stabs him when he mauls a guard, but is shocked when he doesn't die. The infected guard then turns on him, and while Beom-il is distracted Physician Lee bites him too. The Crown Prince kills the physician, but Beom-il has already been infected. Episode 3 Seo-bi has a flashback to the initial outbreak at Jiyulheon after returning to the clinic. She and Yeong-sin are hiding in the store room when Physician Lee runs in. H explains that the disease wasn't like this in Hanyang; when Dan-i was bitten, he was sick for days and then died. The disease has changed; however, he is confident he can fix his mistake as he has meticulously recorded everything he knows about it. However, Yeong-sin notices that Physician Lee has been bitten on the shoulder, and he collapses shortly afterwards. Back in the present, the Crown Prince reads Lee's notes on how he treated the King, and Seo-bi confirms that he believed the disease could be cured. Trivia * The medical journal entry in Episode 1 writes Lee Seung-hui's name with the characters 李承熙. Lee (李) is the second most common surname in South Korea, and means "plum". It was the name of the Joseon royal family (see Lee Chang). "Seung" (承) means "carry out" or "receive" and "Hui" (熙) means "bright" or "splendid". Category:Characters Category:Commoners